This invention relates to medical catheters, and more particularly, to catheters formed from one or more modular elements.
Medical catheters serve various functions. The catheters may be employed in a number of procedures ranging from interventional stroke treatment, angioplasty procedures, aneurysm treatment procedures, and many other operations. Catheters may be used in conjunction with one or more wire guides that facilitate introduction of the catheter to a desired site. The catheters may infuse or aspirate fluid, deliver instruments, perform imaging operations, and/or may be used for other purposes during a procedure.
Medical catheters may be adapted for insertion into numerous bodily regions, such as vessels or ducts. Such catheters may be relatively rigid or flexible, and may be substantially uniform or vary along their lengths, depending on the needs of the procedure, the vessels or ducts involved, and other variables associated with an operation.
Many polymeric catheters currently are manufactured from a single extrusion having one or more lumens. For example, melted polymeric material may be extruded using a die, then passed into a quench bath to form the catheter structure. A multiple layer catheter may be co-extruded, or a second layer may be extruded over an existing polymeric tube. Thermal processing techniques may be employed to bond two materials together, or alternatively, adhesives may be employed.
A typical catheter extrusion process may have various limitations. For example, it may be difficult to vary the profile, properties or characteristics along the longitudinal axis of the catheter using a single extrusion. Also, if thermal techniques are employed to secure two catheter materials together, limitations may arise when dealing with processing temperatures used to form an adhesive bond. If an adhesive is used to affix multiple catheter elements, further steps associated with the adhesion process are required.
Moreover, the addition of features to a catheter of single extrusion may be difficult or require complex secondary operations. For example, the addition of side ports, tips and other features to an extruded catheter may require additional components or manufacturing steps.
Therefore, there is a need for a catheter that may be modularly constructed to facilitate manufacture and provide properties that may be difficult to achieve with a catheter formed from a single extrusion or multiple elements that are bonded together.